Editor's Pick: Scanner a 3D Virtuoso with Macs and PCs

By Anthony J. Lockwood

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

Have I mentioned lately that I think it's exciting that developers are embracing the Mac more with each passing day? A lot of the “we do Mac and PCs” trend has to do with the Unix roots of Mac OS X, but it's also a nod from the developers that the Mac has serious applicability in — and a growing presence throughout — the desktop engineering community. So, it was with great interest that I came to learn of the Mac- and PC-compatible Virtuoso 3D scanner. You industrial designers at the forefront of engineering on the Mac will be especially interested in this portable unit.

First things first, the Virtuoso is a joint launch by Konica Minolta Sensing Americas and threeRivers 3D Inc. Konica Minolta is a company that needs no introduction. Pennsylvania-based threeRivers 3D you may not know as well as Konica. They're a manufacturer of standard and custom 3D scanners They cut their chops over the years making OEM equipment. In short, they know what they're doing.

But the point here is that engineers asked Konica for a precision scanner that would be a lower-cost alternative to the company's high-precision Vivid 910 scanner. And a lot of those people wanted a unit that worked with both their Mac and PC systems. Konica's partnership with threeRivers 3D led to Virtuoso, which, the companies say, is the first scanner on the market to be both Mac- and PC-compatible.

OK, now, besides the flexibility to run with Mac and Windows platforms, the skinny on the Virtuoso is that it's a non-contact portable 3D laser scanner with specs for resolution, measurement envelope, speed, and accuracy that are pretty darned good. One key characteristic is that it can work in light conditions of 500lx or less. It's also light (5 pounds) and diminutive enough to sit on your desktop next to all the other stuff. The kicker is that the Virtuoso begins at $17,999.

You can learn more about the Virtuoso from today's Pick of the week write-up. All those specs I mentioned are there with their numbers. Virtuoso, BTW, was announced Monday. Um, that's an oblique way of my saying that web pages for it were still under development at the time I had to submit this to my editors. No problem: I snagged the Virtuoso brochure for you (thanks, Lou) and have the PDF linked to the write-up. Make sure to download it. You'll be are among the first to learn about the Virtuoso.

Thanks, pal. -- Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood
Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Read today's Pick of the week write-up.

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